Tire blew out yesterday!
 

While riding yesterday I had a rear tire explode after about 19 miles of riding. I was near my house when it blew so it wasn't too big a deal to get back home. All the neighbors in the area came out to see what happened. I really don't want this to happen again! I was doing about 18 mph and it was scary to get it under control. My question is what tire can I install that will be more reliable than what I had? I had been using a Kenda 26 x2.3. I had 70lbs of pressure when I left on my ride. I can't see any signs of hitting anything. The tire has plenty of tread and has no dry rot I should point out that I am about 270lbs.

Have you recently repaired the tube or tire? Where exactly did it blow out - the sidewall, or the road-facing part of the casing?

Generally, blowouts happen either because the tube has gotten caught between the bead and rim, or a fault in the tire caused by road damage.

If it blew out with a bang, and the tyre is not damaged, the tube must have been pinched between the rim and the tyre. This was installation error.
When you install a tyre go around and squeeze it together and check that the tube is fully inside the tyre.

I have not really taken it apart yet. The tire has never been off and I have put over 350 miles on it this year. I would think a pinched tube would have surfaced before this. I will work on it tomorrow and advise, Thanks

It can take quite a while for a pinched tube to announce itself, though 350 miles would definitely be at the extreme high end of the spectrum.

You never did say at what point on the tire the blowout occurred.

I had a blowout once, shredded the tire itself and the person that was driving by thought I got shot. Jumped out of the car and everything.

Turned out I over inflated the tire (I guess) that had never been off the rim either but I did it with a pump with a faulty gauge (found that out later). So you may want to get a second gauge to check out your first one just in case.

Which is a key piece of information.

I had a front blow out. Loud as a shot gun blast.

Had been on the wheel for over 400 miles.

No damage to the tire.

Well I just got back from the LBS. It seems the tube had a 20 inch split along the inside seam. No tire damage and nothing obvious along the rim on the inside. They said it happens on an older tube. There was no dry rot it just blew. I got a new tube and a new tire while I had it apart. I hope it doesn't happen again. I would hate to be going down a steep hill and have that happen again! I think they would need a spatula to pick up the skin I would leave on the road! lol

no it does not
never

a tube does not hold pressure
a tube just keeps the air from escaping
and the tire holds the pressure

as long as the tire is intact and seated on the wheel
the tube will not split
no matter the age

if the tire gets a cut in it
or is not seated properly or comes unseated
then it can happen

This is the tube. Continued to use the tire for 6,000 miles.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=324214

What's the pressure rating for a Kenda 2.3 inch tire? 70 psi seems high. I'd go with 50 psi for a 2.3 inch on front, and maybe 55psi max on the rear. The bead must hold the total force of the tire wanting to expand off the rim. As tire width goes up, pressure is force per unit area. Area increases so total force goes way up. I commute on 700x32c tires. Instinctively, I know most true 32mm width tire casings with wire beads will take about 85 psi. If they advertise much higher (e.g. over 100 psi) they realistically can't be 32 mm ISO width and must be narrower or have an extremely tough bead. So a 2.3 inch wide tire on the same size rim is likely to have a similar stress at 46 psi which would proportionally give the same stress on the bead as any other narrower 32mm tire at 85 psi. Assuming the wider tires are tougher, we might be able to push them a little higher in pressure. What does your side walls say on max pressure?

The tire is rated to 80psi. I think I found out what the problem was when I was putting things back together. I didn't catch it when I was removing it. There was a spoke that had stripped inside the nipple. It went back and forth so much that I could remove it from the nipple. I thought perhaps when I hit a bump the nipple might have move in towards the tube and punctured it. There wasn't any damage to the liner inside the wheel but I thought it may have pushed in enough to pop the tube.

spokes cause flats all the time
but not 20 inch gashes

flats caused by spokes are usually small holes
or sometimes even a spot that seems to be worn through
threadbare almost

for a long gash to open up
the tube must be unrestrained by the tire

unless it was a small hole caused by the spoke
and it was ripped into a long tear by rough removal
but that is kind of unlikely too
you'd have to almost do it deliberately

That's a mountain bike tire - even on the road I seldom pump up my tires to 60 psi (on trail I am around 35 - 40). Just because a tire is rated to 80 psi - that is a max - rolling pressure is generally somewhere inbetween the max and minimum. Of course don't weigh as much as you but my buddy is heavier (280) and he uses the same pressure as me.

Nothing wrong with Kendas I used them on my mountain bikes (Nevergals) never had a problem and seldom get flats. Check and see where the tube blew out (this is important). Near the stem? Interrior or exterior? If interior maybe the psi if exterior could be debris or pinch flat.

And yes some tube 1) can get old and thus not as reliable and 2) some tube are cheap and can be defective - if the blowout is along a seam generally the tube was cheap and defective... there is a certain brand which shall remain unnamed I would never buy because of that.

On the tire pressure, I was thinking that the higher, maximum pressure would handle more load and stress than a lower pressure, and also be faster. I know that holds true with a truck tire in most cases.

Oh B.S. I've seen tubes split at the seams. Nothing is perfect.

Faster comes from within little grasshopper.... it's not the tire that makes you faster... it is you and working harder and getting fitter.

You should pump tires higher for road use vs. trail but watch going to the maximum. And what you can blow up a tire to is different than what a tube will handle. Make sure the tube is made for that much pressure. Anyway, advice offered - if you choose to ignore just make sure you carry the right equipment to repair flats.

there is no tube made that can hold any pressure
all pressure is held by the tire
and tubes never come with any sort of pressure rating

i agree i spoke too unequivocally
i can think of one other situation where a tube might split

but in general
for something to split
it needs to be able to expand
so the split can be pulled apart
and a seated and undamaged tire
does not allow a tube to expand

one exception i can think of is if the tube is significantly undersized
and has to s t r e t c h to fill the tire

Here is Jobst Brandt's opinion on the issue: http://sheldonbrown.com/brandt/blowouts.html

Bicyclists often report tube failures that they believe occurred inside a tire casing. They believe these are blowouts caused by faulty tubes that split or were cut by the rim tape. However, they also heard a bang, after which the tire was flat. On removing the tire casing from the rim with tire irons, the burst tube is found to have a long slash.If there was an audible bang, then the tire was off the rim, exposing the inner tube. However, the undamaged tire usually remains on the rim because tires usually fall back into place after exposing a tube. A tube cannot blow out inside the tire with a bang, because a bang is caused by a sudden change in volume, an expansion. Such an expansion is not possible within a tire casing that is essentially air tight.
The resulting clean slash in the tube cannot occur from rim tape that would cause a gradual failure along an abraded line extending beyond the end of the split. A burst into a spoke hole in the rim would cause a starburst hole that is smaller than the rim socket because the tube shrinks when no longer inflated.


The interesting point is that the tube blows because it is off the rim but people don't realize that the tire will move back on the rim after the blowout.